Denys Shmyhal: Ukraine is the most promising market for investment in defense industry

Minister of Defence of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal announced plans to establish joint production facilities with partners in Ukraine and abroad.

According to him, Ukraine is emerging as a global hub for advanced security solutions and as one of the most promising markets for investment in the defense industry.

“In line with the President’s directive, we are creating new mechanisms to foster the development of domestic enterprises. Over the past three years, our defense production capabilities have increased 35-fold,” noted Denys Shmyhal.

He also emphasized that Ukraine’s defense ecosystem already encompasses nearly 900 enterprises (around 100 state-owned and 800 private) and almost 1,000 teams of engineers and developers who work daily on innovations. Ukraine’s defense industry capacity for 2025 is estimated at $35 billion.

The Minister of Defence stated that this year, the development of the defense industry has reached a new level: joint production facilities are being launched both in Ukraine and abroad, and investments are being attracted to systematically scale up production capacity. He added that twenty-five foreign companies, including major global defense industry players, are already at various stages of localizing production in Ukraine.

According to Denys Shmyhal, these projects span a wide range of defense needs, from conventional artillery to advanced unmanned systems powered by artificial intelligence.

Over 40% of the weapons on the front lines today are produced in Ukraine. Ukrainian combat experience and battle-tested technologies are drawing interest from partners across the globe, underscoring the effectiveness of Ukraine’s approach to building its own industrial potential.